


Plans in the Dark

by TheBretonBookDragon



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Past Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Romance, Sex, Thieves Guild
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-12 10:28:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28634013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBretonBookDragon/pseuds/TheBretonBookDragon
Summary: In the dark of the night held in the arms of her one and only love, Adella lays out the plans to take their lives back. Nothing in this world can keep her from creating the perfect future with her beloved.And anyone who stands in her way is going to pay.
Relationships: Female Dovahkiin | Dragonborn/Mallus Maccius
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N Disclaimer: I do not own Skyrim. Well, I own three copies of the game...but not the franchise.
> 
> Hi, everyone! This is just a two chapter story. I just got this idea out of the blue when Mallus was saying that he was in debt with Sabjorn. I wanted to make a story that explained how that happened with adding the Dragonborn into the equation. I'm just putting his age at the same as the Dragonborn's since it doesn't say anywhere how old he is.
> 
> This work contains sexual situations, past attempted but prevented sexual assault, and canon-typical violence. It's a bit darker than my other stories. Please read and review!

Dragging his feet, Mallus Maccius slinks over to his bed in the small alcove on the top floor of the Honningbrew Meadery. Another day of horrible work lifting barrels and slaving in the hot brewing room and chasing off invading skeevers. And it doesn't even pay that much. He sighs angrily. If only he hadn't borrowed that money from Sabjorn. But he was desperate at the time and needed it. He didn't realize that he wouldn't be able to pay it back slowly without becoming Sabjorn's virtual slave.

After washing off most of the sweat from his body in the washbasin in the corner of the alcove, he strips his clothes off, changes into light pants, and flops himself into the bed. He glances up at the book on the shelf above him, but he doesn't have the energy to reach up for it. It just isn't worth the effort. Within seconds, his exhausted body falls into sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~

Several hours later, an inky shadow makes its way into the meadery and up the ladder to the second floor. Staying along the wall, the figure heads directly toward the alcove containing the sleeping man. Her eyes soften when they land on him, but they soon gleam in mischief when she realizes how deep into sleep he is. Deciding to take full advantage of the situation, she finds a couple of short lengths of rope and carefully ties his hands to the headboard of his bed before straddling his hips and staring down at him. He's beautiful as always. She doesn't care that most would call him stern or sallow or ugly. She doesn't care that his eyes are often dark and sunken in. She loves him. He's hers, and no one else's opinion matters.

She leans forward over his prone body and lays kisses along his exposed neck in exactly the way he prefers. A change in his breathing occurs, becoming a little shakier, and she wonders if his dreams have altered at her presence. Moving up to his face, she kisses each of his eyelids, the tip of his proud nose, his sallow cheeks, his chin, and then finally his lips. He mumbles a little in his sleep and attempts to kiss her back. She giggles silently at how funny he is and slowly parts his lips and places her tongue in his mouth, stroking his with expert precision. A quiet but strangled moan sounds in his throat, and he finally wakes up.

"Adella?" he whispers when she pulls away from his mouth.

"Were you expecting someone else?" she purrs.

"Of course not," he answers quickly, knowing better than to try and make her jealous. There'd be no truth to it anyway. "I just didn't know you'd be coming tonight."

"I've got some news. Plus, I just missed you," she coos, resuming her assault of his mouth.

"I can't help but notice that I'm tied down," he remarks when she pulls away for air, flexing the straps holding his arms back.

She gives him a sickly-sweet smile, and her sapphire eyes glow in the dark with glee. "I couldn't help myself." Adella begins to lightly rock her hips back and forth over his and is soon rewarded with the feeling of him growing against her. "I do love it when you're tied beneath me. It's too good to pass up."

He swallows thickly past the mounting arousal. "Before that, would you tell me your news?"

She sighs in mock annoyance. "If you insist. I've successfully infiltrated the Thieves' Guild like we discussed. Luckily for you, I was given the task of taking over this meadery by Maven Black-Briar."

"Really?" he asks. That was easier than they anticipated.

"Truly," she replies. "That's the main reason I'm here. But…I have an idea. I'm not sure if you'll like it or not."

His stern brow furrows. "What is it? You know she's going to have me run this meadery when all is said and done."

"I know, and I don't like that."

"Why not? My debt with Sabjorn will be gone. You'll be able to be here. We'll run the meadery," he points out in his gravelly voice.

"I don't want someone telling us what to do. I want to be independent."

"But the Black-Briars are very important. It would be good for us to be connected with them."

"Maven is evil," Adella argues vehemently. "I hate her. She'll own you as much as Sabjorn does, and I don't want us to ever be owned again." Her voice cracks a bit on the last word, but her sapphire eyes have turned to ice and her jaw is tight with rage.

Mallus just closes his eyes through the assault of emotion. Remembering that time is never good for either of them. It seems like so long ago now…

_"Mallus! Look at that butterfly!" a little girl with bright blue eyes and flowing auburn hair yells, pointing at a monarch butterfly idly passing by._

_"It's just a butterfly," the little boy grumbles, but he still allows her to lead him by the hand and chase it through the flower field behind her house._

_The two children have known each other for two years now. At seven years old, they are inseparable friends in the way that only children can be. They are carefree and happy, no matter what the boy's face might portray. He enjoys spending time with his energetic friend, and he's glad that his family moved next to hers after they came to Skyrim from Cyrodiil. She has already declared her intention to marry him when they grow up, which tends to paint his cheeks pink and get a remark of how ridiculous she is. They're still kids. Who can say what will happen in their lives? He doesn't understand how she can be so sure._

_A shrill scream of absolute agony breaks the tranquility of the afternoon. "W-what was that?" Adella questions, her hand tightening around his._

_"I don't know," he replies, equally worried._

_The two of them cautiously make their way back to the house, but what they see when they get there convinces them that they should've just run away._

_Adella's and Mallus' parents have been murdered._

_"Mom! Dad!" Adella screams, running to them at top speed and dragging Mallus with her._

_He doesn't know what to say. He looks down at his dead parents, and his dark eyes fill with tears. "Who did this?" he questions, looking around the front yard._

_"There they are!" the two children hear behind them. They turn to see several people dressed in odd clothing and carrying weapons. Mallus pulls Adella behind him and starts backing up slowly._

_"Which one is it?" another asks._

_"Don't know. We'll just take them both."_

_The two children are grabbed and taken away from the scene of the crime. Where to they aren't sure, but things will never be the same again._

_The group that took them turns out to be some kind of small, fringe dragon cult, and they used dark magic to find out that a Dragonborn had been birthed. They knew the location of the child, but not whether it was Adella or Mallus. After doing tests on the both of them, they find out that it is Adella who possesses the soul of a dragon._

_They plan on killing Mallus, but after observing the children, they decide that she will be more likely to help them if they let her keep her friend._

_The children grow up under the harsh restrictions of the cult. Adella is experimented on often, and they attempt to brainwash the children to their views of the world and the need for dragon supremacy. They try to unlock the ability to use the Voice, but it's widely unsuccessful. Unluckily for them, they underestimate Adella's memory, tendency to hold grudges, and stubbornness._

_The whole experience has made her hard, bitter, and unyielding. Mallus has seen the innocent light die in her eyes, and he becomes more cynical as time passes._

_She continues to tell him that she'll marry him one day. She's stayed steadfast in her affection, and he finally decides that maybe they could be together one day. But he isn't sure that the cult will let them do that. They seem to have some sort of plan for her._

_One night, when she is not quite yet sixteen, Mallus isn't in their room. He's been working on becoming a blacksmith for the cult, and he needed to see to a project._

_That's the night the man comes for her._

_He's one of the leaders of the cult, and he's made some seemingly sexual advances to her. She suspects that they'll try to marry her off to him at some point, but she has no intention of yielding to him._

_"Are you all alone this evening?" he questions in what he must think is a soothing, sultry voice. Too bad she prefers the deep gravel of Mallus._

_"Mallus will be back soon," she answers, sending a glare in the man's direction._

_"I won't need much time," he declares, quickly advancing on her and pinning her to her bed. He tries to kiss her mouth, but she turns her head away from him, trying with all her might to get him away from her._

_When he starts pulling at her clothing, the full extent of what he's trying to do hits her. One of the priestesses explained everything to her when she started menstruating at thirteen._

_But this man can't have that. That is for Mallus._

_She feels a power rise up in her, and she opens her mouth to scream. Instead of a scream, though, an echoing shout escapes her throat. The man flies off of her and slams into the wall, sliding down and landing in a heap on the floor._

_She shakily stands, not bothering to fix her tattered clothing, and grabs the ebony dagger Mallus made for her out from under her bed. Standing over the man, she doesn't bother waiting for him to wake up and slits his throat._

_Dead inside from the rage and trauma, she marches through the cult, killing everyone she comes upon. She purposely avoids the smithing area, so she doesn't end up near Mallus like this._

_After killing the leader in his stupid throne, she mechanically walks back to their room and slumps on her bed, letting the dagger clatter to the floor. The dead man is still in the corner, but Mallus' bed is clear of any blood. At least she managed to do that. She sits on the bed with blank eyes and waits for him to come back. He'll know what to do. And she's just so drained now._

_Mallus is on his way back to their room with the token in his pocket when he notices something is wrong. It's too quiet. Even for being evening, it's so quiet. He picks up his steps a bit, wanting to get to Adella as fast as possible._

_Entering their room confirms his worst fears. She's sitting on her bed completely covered in blood and just staring at the wall. That's when he sees the dead man in their room and the dagger on the floor. He knows who it is, and it isn't hard to guess what happened. "Adella, what's the matter?" he inquires in his harsh voice, though she knows that his words to her are never harsh._

_"They're gone. I killed them all."_

_His sunken eyes widen at her admission. "All of them? By yourself?"_

_She turns to look at him. Her usually bright eyes are ice cold and flat. "Yes. Do you despise me now?"_

_"Of course not," he denies, sinking down on his knees in front of her. "We don't have to stay here now. No matter how it happened, we get to leave this place."_

_"You're right," she says, her voice hard as diamonds._

_"What happened?" he presses after her silence continues._

_She explains to him everything that happened, including unlocking the shout ability. He can't say he's surprised about the man in the corner, but it does upset him what has happened to her. It ignites his own bitter, angry side. "Then I'm glad you killed him."_

_"He can't have what's yours," she declares evenly._

_"Even after all these years, you still want me?" He thinks of the difference in their personalities, the difference in their looks. She's classically beautiful—despite the hardening of her resolve and bitter core—and he's not what anyone would call attractive._

_"Of course. You're all I've ever wanted. That won't change. Unless you don't return those feelings." Her words are spoken with no emotion behind them, but he knows better than to assume that she doesn't feel anything._

_He pulls the object he'd been working on out of his pocket. It's a slightly uneven silver ring with a small sapphire on the front. Same color as her eyes. He holds it up in front of her. "I know it doesn't look the best—kind of like me—but it's yours if you want it."_

_She cracks a small smile and takes it. "This is what you've been working on?"_

_"I'm better with weapons, but I wanted you to have something. I wasn't sure that we'd ever be free of this place, but I wanted to make some sort of claim, even if they wouldn't let us be together in the end. I guess you kinda took that choice away from them."_

_This time her smile is cruel, but she takes the ring and slides it on her finger. "Yes, I did. And they deserved it."_

_"They did," he agrees. "Why don't we get you cleaned up and take everything of value from this place?"_

_"Okay," she states, standing and walking through the labyrinth of caves to the bath. He helps her scrub the blood from her hair and nails since she let it dry while waiting for him. It's tough to get out, but they eventually restore her hair back to its original auburn color and her nails to their pristine state._

_Gathering all of the valuables from the compound takes time. For a reclusive cult, they have quite a few valuables. There's gold and jewels and jewelry. There's enough here to get them set up somewhere and find work. They set out for the outside world and never look back._

_When she turns sixteen, she gives him her virginity and he gives her his. She declares that they'll be together for the rest of their lives, and he can't find any reason to object. They're both hard and cold, and no one else in the world will be able to understand them and what they've been through._

_When they are eighteen, the money runs out, but they still haven't been able to find permanent work—only odd jobs._

_When they are nineteen, Mallus takes out a loan with Sabjorn. One that he doesn't realize he can't pay back._

_Adella has been training herself relentlessly in thieving, weapons, and stealth. She's cold, bitter, and ruthless, but there's a playful, mischievous side to her that she shows only to him. He remains cynical and angry but not to her. Never to her._

_After the loan and his employment at the meadery, they make a plan for her to join the Thieves' Guild to get more money. They hide their connection to each other. Just in case. But he knows better than to go with someone else. Not that he would want to. He couldn't break her heart. It would break his too. And they've been through and seen too much. He won't add more to their sorrows._

_And now, at twenty, they're taking their lives back._

"Are you sure you can pull this off?" he asks, breaking her from the horrible memories.

"Positive. I'll make it work. And if I'm not sure, I won't bother. We'll just work with Maven and hope for the best." She resumes rocking her hips on him, feeling him continue to harden beneath her. "Now, where were we?"

He chuckles a bit and leans his head up for a kiss. She obliges but doesn't linger, sitting up to pull off her dress and reveal herself to him. He sighs. He's missed her.

She happens to look up at that moment and notices the garish orange cover of a book. "The Lusty Argonian Maid?" She raises one eyebrow. "Am I not enough for you?"

He huffs a breath. "You can't always be here. And you know that I would never be with anyone else."

"I would kill you if you were," she confirms.

"I'm aware. And I usually just imagine it's you in there instead," he defends.

"I'll let it slide this time," she allows, leaning over him again to capture his lips in a bruising kiss. Suddenly she breaks away and glances across the loft. "Your boss is just over there, right? Just behind those doors?"

"Yes, so we need to keep it down," he growls, annoyed at the absence of her lips on his body and his arms tied above his head. He wants more than anything to touch her. He aches for it.

"Oh, I'm not so sure. It could be rather exciting, don't you think? I'll have to see if I can make you scream by the end."

He moans a little bit at the promise, tinged with a bit of darkness, in her eyes. "I don't want him to see you like this. You're mine."

Her smiles turns sweet for just a moment before going back to the satisfied smirk. Her eyes go down to the ring on her finger—the same one from five years ago. "Then you'll just have to try hard."

She scoots down his legs to free his erection from his pants and immediately takes it in her mouth, swirling her tongue around the head and cupping his balls with a slightly painful squeeze. Exactly the way he likes it.

Mallus has to bite his lip to keep from screaming. She's such a feisty little thing, and she overwhelms him easily.

When he's panting beneath her and about to come, she pulls off of him, causing him to release a small groan of protest. She just grins and moves back up to his face, gazing into his eyes when she impales herself on him.

She rides him hard and fast, putting on a show for his eyes by pinching her nipples and rubbing her clit. He lets out little moans occasionally but is largely successful at keeping himself quiet. There's something a bit exciting in the possibility of getting caught.

Sapphire eyes stare down at him, keeping his gaze as she comes on top of him. He comes just after her and lets out a groan of her name.

Adella collapses onto him and releases his wrists from their bindings. His arms come up and wrap around her naked body, holding her to him and cradling her like a precious commodity. "I love you," she whispers.

"You too," he says, not really keen on vocalizing such sentiments even when he feels them. It's just his nature to be that way, and she knows and accepts that.

"I can't stay here long or your boss will catch me. I'll stay in a tent nearby."

"Just stay…a little longer," he grunts.

She smiles into the darkness. "Okay."

"Are you liking the Thieves' Guild?"

"Not really. For thieves, they're not as interesting as I thought they'd be. Most of them were just bored and became thieves. And some of the higher ups are just rude. I'll leave as soon as everything is done with the meadery. I want to be back here with you."

"Hm," he hums back, running his hand up and down her bare back. When she shivers a bit, he pulls the blanket up over her and allows her to settle in on top of him. She's light enough that it doesn't bother him.

"I did make a friend, though."

"Yeah?"

"Her name is Sapphire. She's…a lot like me, I guess. She was kidnapped and raped by a group of bandits. After a while, she gained their trust and killed them all."

Mallus fists his hands against her back. "Good to have a friend that understands."

"Yeah," she replies. "Let's get some sleep. I'll come into the shop tomorrow to do that job for Sabjorn, and you'll have the meadery by the end of the day. Then I just have to see what I can do about Maven."

They fall asleep in each other's arms, committed to carving out a place for themselves to live the life that they desire.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N Disclaimer: I do not own Skyrim.
> 
> Some changes to the canon Thieves' Guild questline here.

Adella misses Mallus. She misses him so much, and she's so very close to being able to go back to him. The plan of poisoning the mead and having Sabjorn arrested worked out perfectly. She found the silent partner in the meadery and took the information back to the Thieves' Guild. She accompanied Mercer Frey to find Karliah.

And then he had to try and destroy everything by stabbing her to death.

She'll get him for it. She'll make him pay for it. He'll regret the day he tried to ruin her perfect plans.

As of now, she's been assigned to break into his house to find out what his plans are. To do that, she has to get by his bodyguard. Vex gave her some helpful information, and to make use of it, she has to talk to none other than Maven Black-Briar.

Adella sneers as she knocks on the door of their house in Riften. If all works out, Maven won't be around for much longer to control Mallus.

A servant answers the door and leads her in to speak to Maven about Vald's debt.

She finds the woman in question sitting in the dining room looking through some papers. Maven looks up at her. "Oh, it's you. Do you need something? I'm rather busy."

Adella just barely stops herself from rolling her eyes. "I'm here to talk to you about Vald's debt and how to clear it."

Maven raises an eyebrow. "Interesting. And why do you care about that man's debt?"

"It's Guild business," Adella explains succinctly, not wanting to go into more detail and waste more time.

"Hm," Maven replies. "Vald lost something of mine—a special quill that would be rather useful for my business interests. It allows a person to mimic any handwriting that they are looking at, so you can see how useful it would be to me. Vald was bringing it to me and crashed his boat in Lake Honrich. The item is somewhere at the bottom of the lake. If you retrieve it for me, I'll clear Vald's debt to me."

"Consider it done," Adella remarks. Sounds like she'll be going swimming. Nice day for it.

"We'll see," Maven says, not sounding convinced that she'll get the item.

Adella doesn't bother trying to convince her. Actions speak louder than words.

Exiting the side of the town walls, she meanders through the docks and makes her way to the end of the longest pier. Taking a deep breath, she dives into the water fully-clothed.

Swimming out under Lake Honrich is actually quite nice for Adella. The water is cool but not cold, and it's rather relaxing. Trying not to think of the dangerous item that she's procuring for Maven, she quickly finds the overturned boat and retrieves the strongbox from the wreckage.

But then…as she holds the box up on shore…she gets an idea.

A terribly wicked idea.

A broad smile forms on her face. This part of her job just got a lot easier. A little bit of reconnaissance and Maven won't be a problem anymore.

She takes the quill back to Maven with a saccharine smile and accepts her reward graciously. Vald allows her into the house, and she navigates all the ridiculous traps, gets Mercer's plans in hand, and travels back to the Guild to give Brynjolf the information.

Karliah walks up to her in the middle of the cistern. "We're going to need help if we plan on confronting Mercer Frey. Meet me by the standing stone south of the city."

Adella raises one auburn eyebrow. "Why would we need help? This seems easy."

"Just meet me there," Karliah insists. "I'll explain everything once we get there."

Adella just barely prevents herself from rolling her eyes. Karliah is irritating. And each thing that they add to Adella's to-do list just keeps her from Mallus longer. She had a letter from him the day before about how well things were going at the meadery. He, of course, didn't say things like "I love you" or "I miss you." Instead, he said: "Hurry up and finish what you have to do. I don't like being nice to customers." She smiles now even thinking of it. He has his own language. Luckily for him, she has understood it since they were small children.

She glances down at the sapphire ring on her finger. She needs to wrap up this business soon.

Trudging out to the standing stone, she finds Brynjolf and Karliah waiting by a cave underneath it. "Thank you for coming," Karliah states, stepping forward to greet her. "This is the Twilight Sepulcher. We'll need to get inside if we're going to have a hope of stopping Mercer Frey. Follow me."

Adella is wary of anyone that tells her what to do, but she follows in the interest of getting back to Mallus faster. This can't possibly take that long.

Brynjolf leans over to her as they follow Karliah. "This doesn't seem like my kind of place."

Adella is trying to breathe slowly. Even though the place that she and Mallus were held for years was an old Nordic temple, any of these caves—especially religious ones—bring back bad memories for her. "Yeah. This isn't my kind of place either," she adds.

Brynjolf looks her over curiously, noticing the immediate change in her demeanor upon passing through the doorway of the Twilight Sepulcher. He just shrugs it off.

As they make their way through the large chamber, Karliah directs them to an area where they can get some of the Nightingale Armor. Adella continues to breathe slowly as she pulls out the armor and puts it on with shaking hands. She had to wear ceremonial garb in the dragon cult, and this is all starting to be too much. She wishes more than anything that Mallus could be here.

Actually, if she's wishing for things, she wishes that she were done with all of this stuff and back at the meadery with Mallus already.

With their new armor on, the trio makes their way down the stone hallway. At the end, Adella can see bars stretching across the opening and a curious-looking room behind. A feeling of dread settles in her stomach. "All right," Brynjolf interrupts, "we've got on this get-up. Now what?"

"You two are going to pledge yourselves to Nocturnal and become Nightingales. It's the only way to overpower Mercer Frey," Karliah answers.

But all Adella hears is "pledge yourselves."

No.

Nope.

Never gonna happen.

"No," Adella states resolutely.

"We have to have her help against him," Karliah argues. "He has the Skeleton Key, and we're going to need her favor on us to defeat that advantage."

"I will not be beholden to anyone," Adella growls. "Especially some Daedra who would be willing to offer her support to someone like Mercer. I'm out." She flings the cowl off of her head, revealing malice-laden sapphire eyes. She turns on her heel and stomps down the hallway.

Karliah walks toward her and grasps her hand. "We have to have—"

"Don't touch me!" Adella screeches, ripping her arm out of the older woman's grip.

"Lass, it's all right," Brynjolf tries to comfort, noticing the angry tears welling up in Adella's eyes. "We might need help against Mercer. He's clearly willing to employ tactics that the Guild doesn't support."

"You mean murder?" Adella asks bitterly. "What? Do you think I haven't killed anyone before?"

Karliah and Brynjolf both seems to shrink a little bit. "That's not—"

"I have killed more people than you can imagine," Adella states darkly. "All by myself. I slaughtered them all. Mercer Frey is nothing to me. I can easily take him down. Send me alone. I don't care if you come or not. I just want this to be over."

Brynjolf and Karliah share a look. "I suppose that if you are that confident, you don't have to become a Nightingale."

"I think it's funny that you ever thought that you could force me into something I didn't want to do," Adella remarks. "I'm heading to Irkngthand. Whether you come with me or not is up to you. I can handle it."

She leaves them behind in the Sepulcher and immediately makes her way to where Mercer Frey is. This mess needs to be over now. She isn't going to wait any longer.

In the Sepulcher, Karliah looks at Brynjolf. "Do you know what that was about?"

Brynjolf looks down at her. "Sapphire came to me a couple of weeks ago to tell me about our newest member. She was held by one of the dragon cults until she was fifteen. She killed them all before she escaped."

"How many people?"

"At least fifty."

Karliah looks at the retreating figure in surprise. "Then perhaps she won't need Nocturnal's help."

"Perhaps not," Brynjolf agrees.

~~~~~~~~~~

Adella fought her way through bandits outside and Falmer inside. She navigated through traps and broken-down bits of the ruins, through Falmer camps and chaurus dens. And now she finally stands before the large statue of the snow elf to see Mercer Frey prying the gemstone eyes out of the impressive structure. "Mercer!" she screams.

He turns in mild surprise. "Ah, I thought you'd come. But you don't have any backup with you. That's a mistake."

Adella smiles cruelly. "I am perfectly capable of handling you myself. You underestimated my propensity for vengeance, and you nearly kept me from keeping a promise to my beloved."

"So…this isn't about the Guild?" Mercer states, seeming actually surprised this time.

"Do you really think I care about the Guild at all?" Adella laughs mockingly. "I only joined the Guild to help someone dear to me." She holds up her left hand and wiggles the ring finger, the sapphire ring still adorned there. "He's now in charge of Honningbrew Meadery, and I'll be going to join him as soon as I rid the world of you. I wouldn't have even bothered to kill you, but you tried to separate me from Mallus. And that…that I cannot forgive."

She doesn't give him any time to recover from her revelations. With all of her might, she hurls a dagger in his general direction, and it's enough to knock him off balance. The fall from the statue's shoulder down to its forearm is not enough to be fatal, but it is enough to injure him. She stalks purposely over to his position. "Who are you?" he hisses in pain.

"I'm the Dragonborn," she reveals. "And you made the biggest mistake of your life in coming after me." Almost too easily, she overpowers him and stabs him to death. She gives a few dozen extra stabs just to make sure he's dead, and then she feels like she can finally breathe again.

Now all that's left is Maven Black-Briar.

She takes the eyes and the Skeleton Key from his body. The eyes should give her and Mallus some nice gold to get started. The meadery is doing well, but they could always use a little bit more.

The chamber quickly fills with water, and Adella uses her Thu'um to knock out the rocks in the ceiling that look the most unstable. She rides the wave out and into the cave above the ruin and exits into the daylight. No one looking at the cave from the outside would have any idea what it holds. That it is the burial place of an evil man.

She knows that she needs to go back to the Guild, but she feels that she needs to see Mallus first. Still, if she can just get back there, she'll have everything finished and can go back to him without anything to keep them apart. It's a difficult decision, but she steels herself and begins the long walk to Riften.

~~~~~~~~~~

"All right, lass?" Brynjolf asks when she finally sits down in the Guild.

She looks over at him. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"I wanted to offer you the position of Guild Master."

Adella chuckles a little. "No, thank you. I have someone to go meet."

Brynjolf looks down at her with a kind smile. "If you insist. Come back if you ever need anything. You'll always be a member of this Guild."

Adella leans over and hugs him, the feeling reminiscent of having an actual family. "How important is Maven to the Guild?"

Brynjolf furrows his brows, but she can't see from where she's still buried in his side. "Not that important for daily operations. Why?"

Adella leans back and smiles sweetly at him. "No reason. I'll be gone by tomorrow, but I'll keep in touch."

She stands and exits the Guild. By now, it's the middle of the night. Perfect for her plans.

She slinks into Black-Briar Manor and takes stock of everything in the house. She finds Maul and Ingun in the basement, and Sibbi, Hemming, and Maven are in the upstairs bedrooms. When she finds a locked door downstairs, she picks it open and finds the Black Sacrament and an angry note to the Dark Brotherhood implicating Maven in a requested assassination. "Wonderful," Adella whispers to herself.

She sneaks up to Maven's room and carefully slits her wrists in her sleep before placing the bloody steel dagger in her hand. To finish off her plan, she picks up the quill of gemination from the desk in the corner and begins writing a very long, very apologetic and guilty suicide note. She finds all the evidence she can around the house—and all the evidence she has gathered over her time in the Guild—and places it with the note. She also transfers all ownership of Honningbrew Meadery to Mallus and takes all of the proper paperwork with her. They're no longer under Maven's control.

Her pocket full of the gold from the eyes and her satchel stuffed with ownership papers for the meadery, she pays the carriage driver for passage to Whiterun and starts the long journey back to her beloved Mallus. Nothing can separate them now.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Have a good day," Mallus grunts to the customer. The older woman leaves the shop with a smile and several bottles of mead. Mallus slumps against the counter. Adella never answered his letter, and he's a little apprehensive. What if something bad happened to her? What if she finally came to her senses and found someone that matched her better in looks and temperament?

He makes it to the end of the day and locks up the shop. Not feeling like having any dinner, he trudges up the steps and wanders into his new room. But when he opens the door, he freezes in shock.

Adella is sitting on the bed. And she's completely naked.

"Why, hello," she greets. "Have you seen the owner of this meadery? I have some very important business with him."

Mallus can't find it in himself to play her little game, though. He stalks forward and scoops her up in his arms in a crushing embrace. "You came back."

"Of course, I did," she scoffs. "I told you that I wouldn't let you go."

He pulls back to look into her loving blue eyes, a spark of life, happiness, and mischief contained in them that hasn't been there for almost as long as he can remember. "Did you take care of everything?" he asks, beginning to slide his hands along her nude body.

"I did. The backdated ownership papers are on your desk. Maven is dead. We're free now."

His hand abruptly stops when it roves over a new scar on her body. "What's this?" he questions.

"The leader of the Thieves' Guild tried to kill me. I took care of him."

Mallus lets a smirk adorn his sallow face. "It sounds like you have a lot to tell me."

"I do, but do you really want to spend the first night of the rest of our lives talking? I'd rather spend it screaming," she offers, trailing her fingers down his chest and unbuttoning his shirt as she goes.

He chuckles darkly. "Yes, I think that sounds better."

Their lips connect in a passionate kiss, and Adella finishes removing his shirt, roving her hands all over his exposed torso.

She's missed him so very much.

What starts out as sweetly passionate quickly turns frantic. Adella aggressively divests him of his pants and pulls his body on top of hers. "Take me," she commands.

Not wanting to keep her waiting—and being awfully impatient himself—he runs his hands along her legs and spreads them apart. Lining himself up at her entrance, he thrusts into her warmth with a guttural groan. His dark eyes stare down at her, emotions boiling within them. "I really have missed you," he murmurs.

The bright smile she gives him makes his vulnerability worth it. "I know you don't like to say it, but it's nice to hear every once in a while…even though I already know that you did."

Instead of talking further, he leans down and connects their lips again as he begins his rhythmic thrusting. One hand braces himself near her head and the other grasps at one of her full breasts. Her own hands come up to his back, nail digging in so hard that he hisses at the small bite of pain. But at this point, it only adds to the pleasure he feels. She's back; she's here; she's with him.

They'll never have to be apart again.

When he feels her clenching around him, he's lost. It's been too long for either of them to drag out this encounter. And besides, they have the rest of their lives to make up for lost time.

He pulls out of her and then pulls her close. She snuggles happily into his chest and sighs in contentment. "Did you ever think we'd end up here?" she asks, glancing up at him with her large blue eyes.

He looks down at her. "Not really."

"I always knew you were mine, though," she tells him. "Even when we were little. I couldn't have imagined life without you. But I definitely didn't think things would play out the way they did."

Mallus just grunts. "You happy?" he chances.

She leans up to look into his harsh face. She takes the time to look at every minute feature, every bit of him that others would deem a flaw but she finds flawless, and Adella beams, leaning up to kiss him one more time. "Of course. When I'm with you, I can't help but be happy."

He swallows past the lump in his throat. "Good."

They fall asleep to the sound of the other's heartbeat.

~~~~~~~~~~

The next day reminds Mallus of just how different they are. He's so glad that she's back to work out in the front of the shop so that he can hide in the brewing area and just bring more barrels and bottles when she needs them. They both may have been through absolute hell in their lives—and might have lingering effects from it that will never quite leave them—but she's still capable of charming customers when she needs to. The day passes quickly, and they do more business than they had in the days when he was working the front.

They sit upstairs together, having dinner and just being content, when he decides to bring up more questions about her escapades. "So, what all did you have to do?"

She swallows the bite of chicken and sighs. "It was so boring, Mallus. They all think they're so edgy, and they're all just lost hustlers. I do like Sapphire, though. And being around Brynjolf almost felt like I had some family back, but they rest were just irritating. That stupid Mercer Frey, the ex-leader of the Guild, is the one that tried to kill me. He had some Daedric artifact that he was using, and we had to stop him." Here, she takes a shuddering breath and reaches across the table to grab his hand. "One of the old members, Karliah, tried to get me to pledge myself to the service of a Daedra."

Mallus squeezes her hand. "I'm guessing you didn't."

"Hell no," she answers sharply. "I told her where she could shove it, and I went and killed him on my own. It was depressingly easy."

"And what about Maven?"

"They should have found her by now. I got an item for her—part of the stuff to get Mercer's plans from his house—that mimics anyone's handwriting. She committed suicide…with a little assistance from me, of course. Left a note and everything. I had been gathering evidence of her wrongdoing while I was with the Guild, but the real clincher came when I searched her house. She has ties to the Dark Brotherhood, and I was able to make it look like she just couldn't live with the guilt of everything she's done. I'm sure her kids will take over her duties. And I backdated the transfer of the meadery to you. It won't look suspicious, and we can keep it as Honningbrew instead of changing it over to Black-Briar."

"Sounds like you thought of everything," he replies.

"I tried to," she says with a grin. "I wanted to get on with our lives. We deserve happiness after…after everything."

"We do," he agrees in his deep gravel, looking down at where their hands are joined. She still has on his ring. "You ever want an upgrade on that? I could probably do a better job now."

"No," she denies. "I love this ring. I'll take one to wear with it, but I'll never take a replacement."

"I guess I could make one to go with it." He looks away from her, and she can see a slight blotchy flush on his sallow cheeks. "I suppose we should probably make this all more official."

Adella bites her lip to try and keep the broad smile from spreading too far and hurting her cheeks. "That sounds nice," she replies quietly, not wanting to make him more uncomfortable than he already is. "Anytime you're ready, we can head to the Temple. I'll leave it up to you."

"All right," he says resolutely, glad that conversation is out of the way. "So, what do we do now?"

She gazes around the meadery and then looks back at him with shining eyes. "We live. However we want to."

He just lets out a throaty chuckle. "If you say so."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First story of 2021! This was just a little short story I thought of.
> 
> I have quite a few stories on my schedule for this year, and there will be one or two posted a month. I also have a few multi-chapter fics for this year (one of which is Skyrim with a new character) that will begin to be posted when they're completed.


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